Meseo del Automovil, Mexico City

Seek out a small gem in one of the biggest cities in the world

Feature Article from Hemmings Motor News

Despite millions of Americans traveling to Mexico every year, only a small percentage of them ever visit Mexico City, the gigantic, sometimes chaotic metropolis of 20,000,000 not generally known as a destination for tourists. However, this very cosmopolitan city offers more than a few unique institutions highlighting the thousands of years of civilization in Mexico, from pre-Columbian times to the present.
But if you'd rather see something that highlights car culture instead of advanced Mesoamerican societies that once ruled the area, then the Museo del Automovil might just be the ticket. Located in the neighborhood of Coyoacan in the southern part of the city, the museum opened its doors in 1991 and now holds more than 120 cars in its collection, including a unique 1936 Packard Dietrich coupe, a 1920 Stanley Phaeton and a curved dash 1904 Oldsmobile.
The collection includes many staples of the hobby, from a Model T Speedster (one of the few cars set in a period display) to an early Mustang to a 1959 Cadillac to a 1935 Chrysler Airflow. With roughly 38,000 feet of display space, the cars are somewhat crammed in, but the volume of interesting machines makes up for the lack of space around them. While the collection consists largely of American cars from the 1930s through the 1950s, there are plenty of automobiles from the Continent to help you get your Euro on, including a 1960 Borgward Isabella Coupé, a Fiat 500 and others. But the stars of the German fleet are actually made in Mexico.
The Volkswagen Type 1 sedan, or Beetle to you and me, vocho to those in Mexico, played a large part in the industrialization of Mexico as well as endearing itself to the people. For generations, nearly ubiquitous vocho taxis ruled the streets of Mexico City. Though largely retired from that duty, vochos will likely be on the road there forever. VW's Puebla, Mexico, factory kept producing them until July 30, 2003. The last Beetle went to Germany and the second-to-last one now sits in the Museo del Automovil.
Perhaps the most unusual car in the museum is a wrought-iron Beetle made to commemorate Mexico's hosting of the World Cup soccer tournament in 1970. Looking like the offspring of patio furniture and utilitarian transport, the decidedly-not-ready-for-rain Beetle runs and drives like any car should.
The museum does not eschew its Mexican heritage for the industrial age completely, the back wall displaying a recently painted mural depicting the history of humans on the move from ancient people hunting mammoths to horse-drawn chariots to the Space Shuttle. Long an art form in Mexico, the mural took on added meaning in the 20th century, both documenting and encouraging the periods of social unrest that the nation went through. Likewise, Mexico's most famous road race, La Carrera Panamericana, gets its due with a 1954 Dodge Royal, modified to enter the revived version of the race, taking center stage in the front of the building and visible from the street.
The Museo del Automovil is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday. Admission, at the time of this article, was roughly $2.50 for adults and half for children, students and seniors. If your travels take you to Mexico City and you find yourself with time to kill, you can either take the subway, which has a stop less than 100 meters from the museum's entrance or a taxi ride from downtown. It's worth the time.

This article originally appeared in the June, 2013 issue of Hemmings Motor News.